Dystopia

One of the earliest usages of the word dystopia was by the 19th century phillosopher John Stuart Mill; it's the antithesis of Utopia, and essentially a terrible place to live. Often typified by oppressive governments, stratified societies and corruption of religion and family, dystopias are a stable of science fiction and offer a plethora of opportunities for writers to run free with creativity. Perhaps the two best-known examples are Orwell's Oceania in Nineteen Eighty-Four and the London of Huxley's Brave New World. Earlier examples include H.G. Wells's London in When the Sleeper Wakes, the almost exclusively glass-based landscape of Zamyatin's We and Lang and von Harbou's eponymous city Metropolis. More recent examples include Bradbury's Fahernheit 451, The Hunger Games, A Clockwork Orange and pretty much the entirety of the Cyberpunk genre. It's a fun area to collect in; as one becomes better acquainted with the various tropes their combined effect is multiplied. Prices are as varied as the titles, fine copies of the classics fetch five figures, more obscure titles can be picked up cheaply.